The present invention relates generally to welding-type systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for configuring a tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding system for operation using workpiece characteristic data.
There are a large number of welding processes available for use in industry. For example, some welding processes include gas tungsten arc, oxygen gas welding, and shielded metal arc welding. The gas tungsten arc welding process is generally referred to as tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding. A typical TIG welding apparatus includes a welding component that is commonly referred to as welding torch and is designed to control a tungsten electrode during a welding process. The electrode is heated to extremely high temperatures by electrical power received from the power supply. At appropriate voltage and current, a welding arc is created between the electrode and a workpiece to be welded.
Another well-known welding system and process is referred to as metal inert gas (MIG) welding. When performing MIG welding, a consumable wire electrode is driven toward the weld location to be deposited and aid in forming the weld. In order to do so, sufficient current must be delivered by the welding-type power supply to transfer the consumable wire to the workpiece, fuse therewith, and form the weld.
Hence, to perform a MIG or TIG process, the operator must determine the appropriate operational parameters need to drive the process, such as current, voltage parameters, and/or wire feed speed (WFS). However, in the case of a TIG process, the operator must also determine additional operational parameters, such as polarity, frequency, and the like. As a result, configuring and operating a TIG welding system and process is considerably more complex than other welding process, such as MIG welding process. Accordingly, TIG welding processes are generally reserved for individuals with a relatively high training and/or experience level.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system and method for configuring a TIG welding process without requiring the operator to have extensive knowledge of the technical considerations associated with traditional operational parameters, such as electrical properties.